


Love is for Nerds

by RausieStone



Series: The most adorable and nerdy shadowhunters [1]
Category: Ghosts of the Shadow Market Series - Sarah Rees Brennan & Cassandra Clare & Kelly Link, The Dark Artifices Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Kitty - Freeform, M/M, Post-Book Series: The Dark Artifices, Romantic Fluff, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:27:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24544606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RausieStone/pseuds/RausieStone
Summary: Kit and Jem are travelling across the continent to pick up some things for Tessa (herbs and such) at different Shadow Markets. During one of their visits, Kit gets hurt. Not véry serious, but badly enough to have to be treated. Kit is in luck, since they turn out to be quite closely located to a place where they can help him very well: the Scholomance.
Relationships: Jem Carstairs/Tessa Gray, Tiberius Blackthorn/Kit Rook
Series: The most adorable and nerdy shadowhunters [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1797178
Comments: 14
Kudos: 77





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote the outlines of this fic in 1 night because I was just in need of a lot of fluff. And of course, Ty and Kit came to mind right away. I love them both so much!! But yeah, please forgive me if it's not all top notch (also because it's not beta'd).  
> I hope you enjoy it as much as me and please leave a comment if you can:)
> 
> P.S.: Part 2 is coming soon!

It all happened so fast. One moment they were just standing around, driving a very hard – but fair! – bargain with a vampire who was the owner of one of the more ominous looking stands of the Parisian Shadow Market. And the next moment they were surrounded by a group of very pissed off looking fairies. Only a millisecond passed before the sketchy vampire reacted by throwing a strange looking powder at them. The fairies had not even been able to say who they were, let alone what they wanted, and everything escalated to a point of no return. But sadly for the vampire and the (ex)shadowhunters, the powder did not hit there intended target. Instead it landed on unprepared Kit Herondale.

It turned him into a screaming mess as the powder latched onto his body, soaking into his exposed skin with a bristling that almost sounded like burning wood. It felt like something burning too, Kit thought with an odd sense of subdued panic. It was almost like he was seeing the scene played out before him and he wasn’t at all a part of it. But in reality he was actually the center piece.

A second after that realization hit him, consciousness left him.

The only things he’s able to remember later from his short half-coma, is the pain and a pure sense of safety. Two very adverse feelings, obviously. Yet not surprising at all.

He opens his eyes a long time later to bright lights. A woman with a strange, almost disapproving, expression on her face is looking at him intently.

It’s only when he tries to ask her with a cracked voice why she’s so upset, that he notices his own broad smile. Or maybe it’s more like a grin. Kit doesn’t really know. But he _does_ know it’s widely inappropriate for the situation. And that really, after all he had suffered in the last few days, smiling would have to be the last thing on his mind.

All these thoughts passed through him before he noticed something else…

‘’Do you need anything, sweetie?’’ The disapproving looking woman was replaced by a much nicer looking one, her expression warm and empathetic.

Distracted by his new finding, Kit tries to speak again. Only to realize that his voice isn’t up for that yet. He closes his mouth and shakes his head.

The warm woman smiles, but doesn’t look convinced. ‘’Are you sure?’’ Kit nods slowly in response. ‘’Maybe I should get your uncle?’’ Kit sucks in a breath in surprise and shakes his head quickly – much more resolutely than when he nodded. _Please go away, please go away,_ only on his mind.

‘’Alright, if you’re sure…,’’ the woman responds, unconvinced but also clearly resigned to not press further. ‘’I’ll get back to my paper work. You just yell if you need anything – or, er… just knock on your nightstand.’’

Kit smiles and nods again. _Leave now please._

She leaves then. Kit sighs in relieve.

For a moment he has to close his eyes to regain some strength. When he finally gathers enough energy, he raises his head slightly and looks down. Focusing on where his right arm lies alongside his body, on top of the covers. There his eyes had caught a black mop of fluff. And it had reminded him of…

Where _is_ he? Where did Jem bring him when he got wounded? And where was Jem? Was he wounded too, or did he remain unharmed? …the latter, Kit would guess. Since the woman hadn’t seemed very much concerned about ‘his uncle’ when she referred to him.

So then the question about his whereabouts remained. He focuses again on the black spot in the corner of his vision. It seems too good to be true…

He feels his heartbeat gain speed and something in his stomach flutter as he bends to take a closer look. There he was: Ty Blackthorn in all his glory. Or maybe Kit was just imagining the brightness that always seemed to visibly radiate from his favorite Blackthorn’s face. But he hadn’t imagined Ty! He was really here, that much was clear.

For a moment he was sure he had ended up in Los Angeles. That Jem had brought him to the institute there. So his former family could take care of him. But no, that wasn’t right. They hadn’t been anywhere near to Los Angeles. Not even on the right continent!

And now Kit suddenly remembers. They had been close to something else. Something Kit had been doing a very good job of not thinking about, thank-you-very-much. So how, after all the resisting, all the denying, all the not thinking, had he ended up here anyway? Right in the middle of it? Right in the heart of the Scholomance?

Kit didn’t have long to mull it over, because Ty started to move. First Kit was sure he was going to wake up. But that was not the case. Instead he just turned his face. Right. Towards. Kit.

Oh, by the angel, Kit’s memories (and a lot of fantasies he would _never_ admit to having had) did not do him justice. Ty’s sharp angles and high contrasts were even more intense in real life. How could he not have seen it? Not have noticed it and engraved it in his memories? How… could he have taken it all for granted? – that was the real question. The question that was so easy to avoid in his little fantasies about Ty. But this was the real Ty. And there was no avoiding it now.

He had to step up. Once and for all. But not in the way he did at Livvy’s resurrection. Not while doing something lifechanging or whatever other dramatic shit they always seemed be in. No, this time he’ll face his feelings like a man; with no distraction to hide behind. No running away and slipping out the backdoor unnoticed. This time he will face the aftermath head on.

All this and more Kit promised himself, and Ty, while the Blackthorn boy he loved slept peacefully next to him. His head on Kit’s bed. His hair just close enough for kit to touch with his fingertips.


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Livvy shows up!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Told you the next part would be up soon;) Don't know how many parts there will come in total, but definitely at least 2 more.

Is he really peacefully sleeping though? After Kit is finally able to come back to earth – retracting his mind back from the clouds, where he had floated into when seeing Ty here. Right next to him. Peacefully asleep. Or so he’d thought. In actuality Ty was frowning and there are deep dark circles around his eyes. Not to mention that his skin seems to have gained an all-over greyish color. Like someone had taken a picture of him and covered it with a grey and blue filter. It are not the colors of Ty Kit was used to. Not at all. 

It disconcerted Kit. So much so, that he wanted to wake Ty right now. Even though a second ago he’d still been terrified of the prospect of facing him. And had thanked dearly the extra time he had been given while Ty slept. Needing all that time to steel himself. Prepare him for the promise he made himself just now. To face things head on.

But all that went out the window now. There was no steeling anymore. He would do what he must when the time was right. But now all he wanted was to take that frown away.

Kit takes a deep breath and swallows hard. Flexing the muscles in his hands for the first time in days, he grabs hold of the sheets underneath his fingers. He balls his fists around them and pushes against the bed. It’s a pathetic attempt of sitting up really. The only thing he accomplishes is moving one inch. One whole inch that’d felt like a mile to his muscles.

Leaning back against his cushion again he notices himself actually gasping for air. _Gasping for air for such a minor movement?? What was wrong with him!_ Had all those months of rigorous training prepared him for nothing? Is one magical powder enough to turn him bed ridden and gasping for air like an eighty-year-old?

Once again, he feels like nothing he can do would ever turn him into a real Shadow Hunter. Will make him belong…

‘’Giving up already?’’ a familiar voice taunts him from the other side of the bed.

For a moment, Kit’s breath stops altogether. He stares at the ceiling and waits. But when, after a long moment, he hears nothing else, he makes up his mind that he must have imagined it. It couldn’t be, could it?

Only when he turns his head to look. To the foot end of the bed, on the opposite side from where Ty was bent over the sheets, he can catch a glimpse of something moving. Of something transparent and not quite there. Yet also lighter than her surroundings and definitely taking shape.

‘’Livvy,’’ he exclaims, his voice much too loud.

Livia glides much closer in one swift movement. ‘’Shhh! Or the nurse will notice you talking to me.’’

‘’I’m sorry,’’ Kit stumbles, still too loudly.

‘’Be quieter or you’ll wake my brother,’’ she urges, ‘’and he _needs_ this sleep.’’

‘’I’m sorry,’’ Kit repeats. This time his voice was silent enough and Livvy let it go. She smiles at him. They share a long moment of quiet, taking each other in slowly.

When Kit finds his voice back he stammers, ‘’Is it really you?’’

Livvy smiles. ‘’Of course it’s me, silly!’’ she chirped. The perks of being a ghost, in this instance, is that she can be as loud as she wants to; no one but Kit would ever be able to hear her. The only other person that could notice her was sound asleep.

 _It must be hard,_ Kit thinks to himself, _to be so alone in the world_. Even with your twin. It must still be a very lonely existence. Kit suddenly feels overwhelmed by the feeling of missing his friend. Of wanting to see her, talk to her, hug her…

That last one might not be possible, but the other two are. He will not waste this opportunity. ‘’It’s really good to see you, Livvy.’’ He almost felt like crying when he said it.

But all Livvy does is laugh. Her blasé attitude hits him like a bucket of ice water and it takes him a moment to even realize what is happening. And Livvy just keeps on laughing.

‘’What is it?’’ Kit wonders after a while, sounding more confused than annoyed.

‘’You said that already,’’ she confesses, still laughing like Kit is the funniest comedian in the world to her.

‘’Whut?’’ He responds, dumbfounded.

‘’You said that already too.’’

‘’What are you talking about it?’’

‘’And that.’’

‘’Okay, stop it Livvy. What the hell is – ‘’

‘’That too’’

Kit shut his mouth then. He is way too tired and drained to play any kind of game, and certainly this one. He just shut his mouth, purses his lips and stares at Livvy’s translucent figure with a very unamused expression.

Meanwhile Livvy is having the time of her life it seems. He can’t really hear much of it anymore, but it looks like she is doubling over with laughter. All at his expense of course.

But then Ty starts stirring and they both freeze. Neither of them would ever mean to upset Ty’s sleep. Definitely not when, as Livvy pointed out earlier, he so badly needs it. They both remain frozen, waiting a long, long moment with bated breath. Neither of them speaking.

After their eyes cross paths and they wait another moment longer, they agree with one significant look towards each other that they’re in the clear.

‘’I’m sorry,’’ Livvy says, unconvincingly, as she moves back to Kit. ‘’I just get to have so little interaction with anyone anymore, I have to enjoy it… Please forgive me.’’ Just when he’s about to, she adds, ‘’You’re just so easy to make fun of,’’ and Kit snaps his mouth shut again. Livvy lets yet another giggle slip out at that.

‘’Yeah, yeah, just laugh away,’’ he hisses.

‘’Oh, don’t be sore. It’s not like you don’t deserve it.’’ She looks him right in the eye when she says that and challenges him further with a raised eyebrow.

‘’I don’t know what you mean,’’ Kit stammers self-consciously, quickly looking down.

‘’Sure you don’t,’’ she counters, her face and voice rather pissed off.

But she back tracks when she sees the expression on Kit’s face. He’s looking down, biting his lip and his skin has tuned red. Not the blushing kind of red, but the emotional kind of red.

Kit’s decision to run away might not have been the most well thought out plan ever – the most dumb-headed, more likely – but he certainly hadn’t come to that conclusion for lack of feeling. His heart was in the right place, Livvy knows that. He just made a really stupid decision with it. As did her brother.

 _Boyysss_ , she sighed internally to herself.


	3. Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First meet between Ty and Kit! But awkward boys will be awkward boys...

It took Kit and Livvy hours to catch each other up on everything they had been through in the last few months.

Livyy talked about the adventures she had been on, outside of the Scholomance, testing the borders of her capabilities and trying to be of some use. She left out how Ty had fainted when she was gone too long though. She felt still too guilty about that to admit to it.

Meanwhile Kit caught her up on how Jem, Tessa, and Mina were doing. Talking at length about their lives. Especially about that of that last one. Mina was the wittiest and cutest little baby that ever lived – in Kit’s opinion, at least.

He also told her about all the training he had been doing lately. And announced proudly that even the people in town noticed his body changef. That one of them had even called him a beast. He grinned widely when he said that and Livvy laughed. 

They talked all night. About anything and everything. But they avoided one subject all the while. Right until the very last moment, when the light of dawn started to break through.

That subject was Ty of course. After Livvy’s comments about Ty’s sleeping she hadn’t mentioned him again. Even though he was lying right next to them both. But then light stated to pour through the windows and the castle began to wake up slowly: the birds started chirping, a new nurse took over the old one for the next shift, and echoing through the corridors Kit could hear the sounds of students waking up. He looked sideways at Ty’s sleeping form, still resting with his head and arms on top of Kit’s sheets. Still vast asleep. But it wouldn’t be long now. Before he’d wake up and find Livvy and Kit here, talking.

‘’Kit, I must tell you,’’ Livvy says, suddenly urgent. Probably thinking the same thing Kit was. ‘’My brother is not doing fine at all without you. He’s miserable. And that’s not just because I’m dead and he’s here without his family. I think most of it is because of you in fact. I think he’s punishing himself for everything that happened, by not making any new friends here. And I also think he just doesn’t see the point of new friends without you.’’

Kit stares at her. They had been talking a lot. All night long. But never once had she made such a speech. Never once had she spoken so candidly about what was troubling her.

And not to even mention here words themselves. Kit felt like he needed hours, maybe even days to process them. And now he only had seconds. So he just stared at her. Mouth hanging half-open. Speechless.

….and then she disappeared.

Kit blinked a few times, but he could see no trace of her. In fact, it almost seemed like she’d never been there in the first place.

He sighs and lets his head fall back against the headboard. Over the course of the night he’d been able to pull himself into a sitting position – with much effort. The nurse with the overnight shift had practically slept through _all_ her workhours. But she had woken up only once. During which she’d checked on all her patients. And all of them had been asleep, except for Kit. He had insisted that he didn’t need anything and that he wasn’t sleepy either. She revealed to him he’d been here for almost three days already. And that he slept through most of that time. So it seemed like a logical result to both of them that he was fully rested by now. Even though it was indeed in the middle of the night.

That was hours ago and he still doesn’t feel tired. Not after all those nightly hours talking to Livvy. Not after all those silent moments sneakily gazing at Ty when Livvy wasn’t looking – or so he hoped. Not after making up his mind again and again that he was going to confront his feelings, once and for all this ti–

‘’Kit,’’ a muffled voice sounded.

A voice Kit would recognize out of thousands. If not millions. A voice he had _not_ been expecting to hear right now. Even though it was of the boy who had slept right next to him – almost on him – all night.

Kit’s heart skips a beat. He feels like his whole body was frozen, right in the position he was in when Ty spoke. Or, no, rather whispered. _His_ name.

In reality though, his body didn’t freeze at all. It just moved without him realizing what he was doing. What his _body_ was doing. Before he knew what was happening, he was staring Ty right in the eye.

And Ty, to Kit’s surprise, was barely awake. He was still lying on the side of Kit’s bed. Still resting his head on his arms. His dark and wavy hair still so, so, so close to Kit’s hand. He felt like the air between his fingertips and the other boy’s hair – those two small inches – was warmer than anything else in the room. Like there was some kind of current running through only that pocket of air. Like it was alive with their electricity. The result of merely being so close to each other for the first time in months.

Ty’s eyes widened perceptively. It was like he was finally noticing he wasn’t dreaming. As if he finally realized he was actually awake.

Kit, meanwhile, just stared at him. All thoughts of bravery, of not running away, of facing his feelings head on… all of them disappeared. They faded from his mind. Like they were never there.

‘’Hi’’ Ty said – at long last the first to speak.

A beat of silence passed. And another. And another.

They were mere seconds. But it felt like an eternity to Kit. Yet, also not. It also felt like he’d only just fallen into a deep, dark hole one moment ago. And like he was only just starting his way of climbing out.

And then, after he just started, he suddenly found his way back to his body in a flash. Right when Ty started talking.

‘’Kit I – ,’’ he started to say.

Right when Kit said, ‘’Hi.’’

 _A genius reaction to a genius opening_ , Kit thought to himself. _How lame could he be?!_

They fell silent again. Neither knowing what to do in this situation. They knew each other so well. Better than anyone else, Kit thought. Yet they felt so foreign to each other right now. Almost like strangers. So they had no idea what to say to each other. Much less how to act towards each other. Which is why they just kept their tongues and stared. Right until, eventually a bell rung.

Not a doorbell or a bell that you hung around your pet’s neck perhaps. No, a school bell. A bell that meant classes were starting. The first classes of the day.

It took Kit a moment to realize this. To grasp again where he actually was. Not just an institute. But a school. The school Ty went to…

It took him so long to realize this that all he could think to answer when Ty announced – with shocked eyes – that he had to go or he would be late for class, was ‘okay’.

And that was that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so if you made it through this entire chapter: Than you and congratulations! And also, I can promise you now that in the next chapter there will definitely - FINALLY - be some action ;D


	4. Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clever Livvy

Ty left in a hurry. He practically sprinted out of the infirmary. Without checking if the nurse would see him. Without even throwing Kit a backward glance. It was so fast and out of the blue, that all Kit could do was sit back and stare after him. Like a dumbfounded idiot.

He kept sitting like that for a very long time. Or so he guessed. He couldn’t be sure, since time had ceased to mean much anymore. And all he could do was stare at the spot where he had last seen Ty.

Still gazing off at the door of the infirmary, he fell asleep.

◎

All day Ty went to his classes and all day he felt like he learned nothing at all. He couldn’t hear his teachers speak, he couldn’t talk to the other students, he couldn’t see his book right in front of him, he couldn’t even taste his food at lunch. All he could think of was Kit. And all his senses could hear, see, and feel, was Kit.

_If only he knew what Kit tasted like,_ he thought to himself, _he could only taste him too._

But the second after that went through his mind, he almost choked on the water he was drinking. He caught it so badly that he actually had to spit out everything. It all came out in waves. Half through his nose and half through his mouth.

He made a real spectacle of himself. But he couldn’t really care about that either. All he cared about was back in the infirmary, sleeping and healing. Probably only a short time longer, before he went back to his home with Jem. Away from Ty…

Tiberius did something then. Something he had never, in a million years, would’ve guessed he’d ever do. Something he had never even thought about doing, let alone going through with it.

He skipped class.

And he lied.

To one of his nicer classmates – or really, just the only one he ever talked to – he said he wasn’t feeling well. He told him that it wasn’t serious, but he didn’t feel well enough to go to class that afternoon. That he would feel better after an afternoons rest, and that tomorrow he would probably be alright again.

The other boy nodded in agreement. He also promised to transfer the message to their teachers. Ty thanked him and left right away. He couldn’t get out of the cafeteria fast enough. He couldn’t get to the infirmary fast enough.

But when he arrived there he seemed to be out of luck. Once again. Not only was Kit vast asleep. He was also frowning and flexing his muscles. Like something was really bothering him. Like something was _hurting_ him.

Ty wouldn’t have minded the sleeping really. Of course, he wanted to speak with Kit. Talk with him like they used to. And he needed to be awake for that, obviously. But sitting here and watching Kit sleep was the next best thing. Ty knew he could sit and watch Kit for hours and not get bored.

But that was only when Kit was at peace. Not when he was this troubled. And definitely not when he was in pain. He felt it. He felt Kit’s pain like a stab into his own chest. He didn’t like it.

But he also didn’t know what to do about it.

‘’Ty?’’

Tiberius looked up, startled. ‘’Livvy,’’ he whispered breathlessly after a moment, when he saw her.

She smiled. But the cheerfulness did not reach her eyes. They looked sad. Even sadder than they usually did. ‘’Are you okay, Ty-Ty?’’ she asked carefully, kindly, patiently.

He opened his mouth to say yes. To say that he definitely was okay. But no sound came out.

Well, at least not the sound of words. Only the sound of a very low, almost strangled noise.

‘’Oh, Ty! It’s going to be alright. _He_ is going to be alright,’’ she tried to assure him.

‘’How do you know that? How can you be sure?’’ his voice came out shakily.

‘’Because his injuries are minor. They’re very painful and need time to heal, but they aren’t dangerous.’’

Ty didn’t say anything. He just stared at Kit and felt very much unconvinced.

‘’Please Ty, talk to me,’’ Livvy said desperately, after too long a time of silence.

‘’I – I want to take his pain away.’’

If Livvy still had had a heartbeat, it would have skipped right then and there. But now it just felt like her fathom heart had broken. Just like it seemed Ty’s had.

Livvy couldn’t bare to see her brother this way. She thought of a plan to fix it quickly, and got right to business. ‘’Okay,’’ she said to him and looked around the room. At the empty beds that littered the rest of the hall. At the empty table where the nurse was supposed to be sitting, taking watch. And at the very full cabinets of all sorts of medicine.

‘’You should treat him!’’ Livvy announced, suddenly feeling very excited.

Ty blinked at her, not quite meeting her eyes. Just like usual. He frowned once and then tuned back to staring at Kit.

‘’Come on Ty,’’ Livvy pressed. ‘’You can do it.’’

Ty tensed. ‘’What do you mean?’’ he whispered to her. But it sounded like he was barely paying attention.

Livvy wasn’t going to give up that easily though. She moved away from his side, to right in front of him. ‘’Ty, look at me,’’ she ordered in the stern, wise sister voice she sometimes used. He did as she tol him. ‘’You can fix it, Ty. Make him feel better.’’ He looked at her skeptically. He was not convinced. ‘’I’ve seen what the healers use to treat him. It’s a drink they give him.’’

‘’Okay… Well, I’m sure they already gave enough of it to him this morning.’’

_Shit,_ Livvy thought, _why did her brother always have to be so smart and logical?_ How was she ever gonna trap him in giving Kit drugs that would make him giddy and high. Make him finally cross those bounds that kept them from being together. Both of them. I mean, either of them crossing this imaginary cap between would do. But this was the first and best opportunity that presented its self, so Kit it was going to be.

Okay, yeah, Livvy was definitely acting desperately. She was the first to admit that. But she just hated seeing them both so unhappy. Especially when it was entirely unnecessary.

She looked back at Ty and he seemed less convinced of her plan than ever. And then Kit moaned. It was clear it wasn’t a reaction to a pleasant feeling. His hands clutched to the sheets and his breath hitched. It made him look young and vulnerable.

Ty gasped in response. ‘’Okay,’’ he said. ‘’I’ll give him the medicine.’’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry! I know I promised that this chapter would provide some action between the boys :s But it just took a chapter longer. But next time definitely there definitely will be some smooching and stuff;) I promise!! This time for realsss


	5. Part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sparks flying!

It took Kit about an hour to wake up. But, luckily, Ty didn’t have to wait that long for his pain to end. His hand unfolded out of the firsts they had made, his frown relaxed and the threshing and groaning stopped completely. All long before he woke up.

Ty had put the little bottle with medicine to his lips with the utmost carefulness he did everything. Or maybe even more. At first he had been afraid it wouldn’t work; that feeding Kit this medicine while he was unconscious would just result in all of it spilling on his cushions. But that’s not what happened. The moment Ty laid his hand on Kit’s cheek, to steady him, he went very still. His moaning stopped too. Only his frown remained. And just one movement; the parting of his lips the moment Ty touched the bottle to his mouth.

He took in the drink eagerly. Like his body sensed that the person who was giving him this was someone who only meant him well. Like his body knew Ty was here, even when his mind was not able to.

Ty was very careful to give him just the three zips Livvy told him to. Kit seemed eager to take more though. Swallowing the drink like his life depended on it.

Tiberius felt scared and worried as hell when he moved away the bottle. What if it didn’t work? What if it made things worse?

He didn’t have to fear for long though. Only a few minutes went by of Kit moaning and moving around in obvious discomfort, when it finally stopped. For good this time.

And then the waiting began. Forty-eight – yes, Ty kept track – long minutes of waiting. Of not knowing if he’d done well or not in sneakily giving him the medicine. In stealing it from the nurse’s cabinet and secretly putting it back. Trying to be as discretely as possible throughout all of it. And all he could do now was sit and wait.

Not knowing what to do with himself, he just stood there. Hovering over Kit like a creep. Then someone interrupted, coming in to get a band aid – and thankfully not waking the nurse in the process. It was one of the classmates Ty had seen before but didn’t know well at all. The boy eyed Ty suspiciously.

‘’What’s going on?’’ he asked when he passed again, on his way out. ‘’Is something wrong with him?’’

It took a moment for Ty to realize he was talking to him. He only noticed when the boy started to come towards them. Ty sensed that immediately and turned around just as quickly, facing him. The moment their gazes crossed paths, he suddenly felt very protective of Kit. He felt like this was an intruder who wanted to mess everything up. Even though he didn’t really know what that everything was.

On sheer instinct, he took a step to the side, effectively blocking Kit from the boy’s sight. ‘’It’s nothing for you to worry about,’’ he said, his voice not unsensitive but also not really polite either.

The boy seemed perplexed. There is shock in his eyes because of Ty’s words. ‘’I’m sorry,’’ he says. ‘’I didn’t – ‘’

‘’It’s alright,’’ Ty caught him off. ‘’He’ll be okay. I’ll take care of him.’’

At first it seems like the boy is too embarrassed to argue and is about to turn around and leave – as quickly as possible. But just after he takes a step back, he opens his mouth again. But the voice that sounds through the hall is not his.

‘’Ty?’’

Tiberius whirls around and finds Kit awake. Blinking up at him with dazed eyes. Ty finally feels himself relax. The muscles in his hands letting loose at last, after flexing and bending endlessly into fists over and over again.

‘’I’ll leave you two to…’’ the stranger sputters as he makes his exits quickly, not even bothering to finish his sentence.

‘’Hi,’’ Kit says after a long minute of silence.

‘’Hi,’’ Ty replies with feeling. A lot of feeling. Something that never happens with Ty.

Any other day this would worry Kit. Any other day he would draw closer immediately and zone in on Ty’s mood. Possibly ask what’s going on in a whisper.

But not today. Today Kit felt different than any other time in his life. Today he felt exquisite, brilliant and amazing – all at the same time.

He smiled. A little he thought. But it was actually the widest grin Ty had ever seen around Kit’s lips. And it was not just his lips. His eyes, no, his entire face seemed to radiate joy.

It was the most beautiful thing Ty had ever seen. He couldn’t do anything else than just stand there and stare.

And then Kit opened his mouth to speak. With a lazy smile and half lidded eyes, he ascertained something about Ty. ‘’Your lips are so pretty,’’ he said. Just like that. Without preamble or any worry at all.

Ty suddenly felt very warm. Though he had no idea why. Not just because he wasn’t aware of his body like that at all. But also, because he didn’t understand Kit’s words. Not that Ty didn’t understand why he was saying them – I mean, that too, of course – but what it was supposed to mean. He had never been in a situation like this. He had no comparative material. Something he always needed to behave appropriately in the most normal of circumstances. And situations like this all the more.

Ty had no idea what to say. He cocked his head to the side subconsciously, while thinking deeply about what to do. Grasping at any straws his mind could come with. Anything to work with.

Kit, meanwhile, had already moved about six paces further, leaving Ty behind even more. He was staring at Ty with adoring eyes. Blinking up at him like Ty was the most precious and cute creature he had ever seen in his life. Like Ty was a cute little bird. A cute little bird who could frown. Like a curious cute little bird… With eyebrows. A frowning curious cute little bird.

Kit smiled happily at his own mind when that last thought went through his mind, completely satisfied with himself. With those _very clever_ determinations made, he felt like he had to speak up about them now. ‘’You are so pretty,’’ he said. ‘’Even when you frown. And especially when you’re curious. Which is always. Which is why you’re always beautiful.’’

‘’You just said it made me pretty, not beautiful,’’ Ty pointed out, grasping at straws; the only straws he could make sense of – logic.

‘’Did I?’’ Kit wonders sincerely, sounding very surprised, yet not at all bothered by it. ‘’Well actually they’re beautiful.’’

‘’Okay,’’ Ty said, feeling compelled to say something whenever Kit stopped speaking. _He wants to hear him. He needs to hear him._

‘’Can I touch them?’’ Kit asks suddenly.

‘’Touch what?’’

Kit doesn’t answer. He just stares at Ty again, completely lost in thought. His mind totally occupied by thoughts of Ty and his soft lips.

Or at least, he imagines they are soft. But he doesn’t know if that’s true. Not yet.

‘’Christopher?’’ Ty whispers tentatively, after a full minute of silence.

‘’Yeah.’’

It’s only then that Ty realizes Kit’s face is only 2 inches away from his. How had they moved so close? When did he even walked? How had he not noticed his own legs stepping towards Kit and his knees bending slowly to become level with him? How had he not felt himself lower and move?

Ty didn’t have long to wonder about all these things. Because before he knew it, they were kissing.

**THE END!**

**…or is it?**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To the people who have been reading and following this work; thank you so much!!! I loved writing this and even though it’s far from perfect I’m kinda proud of how it ended up. Also: you might have noticed, I’ve added this work to a series (‘The most adorable and nerdy shadowhunters’ – yeah, my naming creativity hasn’t been top notch lately, but whatever XD). This is because I’m not done with this story yet. But also because I’m going to try my hand on writing some smut (jup, first timer here!) and I wanted to give people who don’t want to read that the opportunity to just read this story with only fluff. So yeah, next work in this series will get a mature content warning;)


End file.
